Safety skinning-knife.



P. W. GROSOHOPP.

SAFETY SKINNING KNIFE.

APPLICATION FILED my 25. 1912.

Patented May 27, 1913.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRIEDRICH W. GROSCHOPI, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASS'IGNOR TO KAMPFE BROS, OFNEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SAFETY SKINNING-KNIFE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 27, 1913.

Application filed May 25, 1912. Serial No. 699,635.

York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SafetySkinning-Knives,

of which the following is-a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to an improvement in skinning knives, or thatclass of knives used by butchers to cleave skins from the? carcasses ofanimals. A One of the objections to using an ordinary knife for skinningpurposes is that the skin is apt to be injured during the operation ofcutting the skin away from the flesh.

The object of my invention is to produce a knife that will cut the skinaway from the flesh but will not cut the slnn itself; in other words, asafety skinning knife.

A further feature of my invention is to provide a safety knife that maybe used either in the right or left hand.

To produce my safety skinning knife, I employ a guard for the blade, thesaid guard being adapted to be applied, at will, to either side of theblade, whereby the knife can be used in either hand.

I will now proceed to describe my invention in detail, the novelfeatures of which I will finally claim, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, forming part hereof, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side view of my improved knife; Fig. 2 is a similar view,one member of the handle being removed, the securing rivets beingsectioned, the plug or block being also shown; Fig. 3 is a top plan viewof the knife, the guard being positioned so as to adapt the knife foruse by the right hand; Fig. t is an enlarged end view of the bladeshowing the stops for the guard; Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the knife,the guard be- .ing positioned so asto adapt the knife for use by theleft hand; and Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view, taken on a line aain Fig. 2.

As herein embodied, my improvement consists of a knife, a portion ofwhich comprises a handle made up, in this instance, of the members 1 and2, secured together and to the shank of a cutting blade 3, by rivets 4:.One end of the member 2 of the handle is recessed in Order that a spring5 can b inserted, "the said spring being secured to the rear end of theblade 3. A block 6 'is inserted in the recess 7 to format plug The freeend of thespring 5 engages the heel portion of a rigid guard 8, which,at 9,is

pivotally secured to" the handle members.

As can be seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, the guard 8 is not as wide as theblade 3 whereby the said blade projects slightly. beyond the said guard,along the cutting edge thereof. By such a provision theknife can performits function without hindrance .upon the part of the guard, which onlyacts to keepthe blade out of contact with the skin. In order to renderthe knife adaptable for use in either hand, I formthe guard so that itwill yield. at a certain portion, intermediate the ends thereof, inorder thatit can be sprung over the blade when it is moved upon itspivot 9 and carried clear of the blade? As can be seen in Fig. 2, theguard 8 is reduced in width at 10 to an extent that will permit it toyield or bend, it being preferably spring tempered atthis point or elsemade of a metal having a certain amount of spring, such as rolled steel.

To permit the guard 8 to'be moved to a position along the side of theblade, after said guard has been sprung, at the point 10, I recess theblade 3 as at 11. When the guard 8 has been sprung and when it has beenforced to assume a position along the side of the blade, the reducedportion 10 will lie-in the recess 11 (see Fig. 5). The spring 5 acts tokeep the guard in position along the blade, and to hold it in a raisedposition as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. In order to cause the guardto lie in the proper position relative to the cutting edge of the blade3, I provide the said guard with stops 12 and 13, the stop 12 beingprovided with a projection 14:, by the aid of which the guard may bepulled away from the blade 3. The stop 12 will contact with the blade 3when the guard 8 is positioned for right hand use (see Fig. 3) and thestop 13 will contact with the blade when the guard is positioned forleft hand use (see Fig. 5).

When in use the blade 3 will lie next to the flesh of the carcass andthe guard 8 against the inside of the pelt or skin. As the guard coversall excepting the cutting edge of the blade, it will, as the knife ispressed between the adhering surfaces of the flesh and pelt, keep thepelt away from the blade excepting at the extreme cutting edge. As thosewho make it a business to skin animals do not always use the care of amore experienced person, they are apt to cut the pelt, for the reasonthat they often apply the knife in the manner of a slash and they do notal Ways strik the p int at which the flesh and pelt adhere, butfrequently strike and cut into the flesh (which does no damage) andoften into the pelt, which injures the same. By employing my improvedknife, it is almost ilnpossible to slash the pelt.

Having now described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A knife comprising a handle, a cutting blade secured thereto, and aguard, said guard being rigid and of a width slightly less than theWidth of said blade throughout a portion of its. length, said guardbeing yieldable throughout a portion of the remainder of its length andpivoted to said handle adjacent the rearmost end of said length andpivoted to said handle adjacent the rearward end of said yieldableportion, said handle being provided with a recess adapted to receive theyieldable portion of said blade, and stops carried by said guard adaptedto contact with said blade when said guard is in position for use.

Signed at New York city, N. Y. this 23 day of May 1912,

FRIEDRICH W. GROSCHOPP.

WVitnesses:

EDWARD A. JARVIS, ESTELLE O. HAMnuRenR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

